In 2018, Flamingo Land Ltd, a theme park operator from Yorkshire, put forward the idea to build a £40mn resort on the iconic banks of Loch Lomond. Named the ‘Lomond Banks’ development, it proposed building a mega-resort on Scotland’s most iconic shoreline which would include two hotels and more than 100 lodges, a waterpark and a monorail. Their pitch predicted significant economic investment which would generate up to 200 jobs.
The story so far
On 20 May 2025, Ivan McKee, Minister for Public Finance refused to stop the Flamingo Land application despite more than 155,000 objections to this planning application being raised. Incidentally local people point out this is more than any other planning application in the UK.
This follows the announcement on Friday, 16 May 2025, that Scottish Government officials have overturned the unanimous decision of the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park board to reject the mega-resort application.
The application was rejected by the board in September 2024. Shortly before Christmas, the developer lodged an appeal with the Scottish Government seeking to overturn that rejection. Their persistence has apparently paid off.
Local reaction to the latest development
Ross Greer, the local Scottish Greens MSP, who has led opposition to this development stated:
“This cowardly decision by Scottish Ministers is a hammer blow to Loch Lomond and the community in Balloch. They have the power to intervene and stop Flamingo Land’s destructive mega-resort from going ahead but will not do so.
“Ministers were happy to step in when it helped an American billionaire trash the Menie dunes for the sake of a golf course, but when it comes to protecting our world-famous natural environment, they refuse to act.
“The Flamingo Land application was opposed by experts, including the Scottish Government’s own environment watchdog and the National Park’s planning team. It flies in the face of our efforts to tackle the climate and nature crisis and would heap more misery on local residents with the huge amount of additional traffic it would cause.
“It is absolutely staggering that officials overturned the park board’s decision, but it is so much worse that Ministers are backing them up. This is a Scottish Government willing to step in to help American billionaires, but not when Scotland’s world-famous natural environment needs protection.
“Our campaign to save Loch Lomond from Flamingo Land continues. The Scottish Government still has time to change course. Add your voice to the campaign.”
It now looks as if this issue will continue into the Scottish general election campaign which is bound to raise questions about how much say local communities have over economic planning and development in their area. It is appropriate at this moment to remember the words of the Nobel laureate Bob Dylan when he wrote:
“Money doesn’t talk, it swears.”
I wonder if the good people of Balloch would agree with that sentiment?
More in environment.
